Jealsa undertakes the generational succession with the presidency of Jesús Manuel Alonso.

The founder, Jesús Alonso, takes a step back ‘for reasons of age and health.’

Jesús Manuel Alonso Escurís (Boiro, 1959) has been named president of the Jealsa group after his father, Jesús Alonso Fernández, presented his resignation to the post last Friday before the shareholders meeting ‘for reasons of age [85 years] and health’. The founder of the company takes a step back and leave the warehouse in the hands of his five children: the vice presidency will be occupied by Juan Luis Alonso Escurís; and Puri, Javier and Miguel are board members. Jesús Alonso assumes the honorary presidency of the Corporación Empresarial Jealsa ‘in recognition of his great work.’

With these movements, the generational succession takes place which Jesús Alonso had been preparing in recent years, with Jesús Manuel as the visible presidential successor; it is with good reason that he incorporated to the company in 1981, in which he occupied the post of general manager from 1986 until now. The founder has always endeavoured for his children to occupy key posts in the company, with greater or lesser responsibility, in order to favour a calm transition.

His duties in the company in recent years, in addition to the management, have been focussed especially on the development of the energy division, a segment that was incorporated to Jealsa in 1997 when a co-generation plant was started up in O Bodión (Boiro) to supply electricity, steam and hot water to the central factory of the group. Taking advantage of the means and knowledge acquired on the subject, Jesús Manuel Alonso was assigned the expansion of the then new business line, and as a result of his management, Jealsa is owner or shareholder in at least five wind farms in Spain and a giant one in Chile.

Jesús Alonso Fernández has taken part in the major decisions until practically the last day of his presidency, but is aware that the time has come to pass the baton to his children, so that they may face the challenges that can be determining factors for the future of Jealsa, especially the development of the canning plant projects begun in South America, expressly in Brazil, without leaving aside those already settled in Guatemala and Chile, and continuing to commit to Boiro: ‘We are from here and we live here,’ the new president announced on that day.

From nothing to the leadership in tuna production in Europe

In 2018, Jealsa will be 60 years old and, at that time, it is predicted that the project X50 will be completely developed, a commitment to continue growing and generating employment in Galicia and that will make the expansion of the O Bodión factory a reality (it is already under construction). The expansion of the canning plant is linked to its condition of inter-supplier of Mercadona since it acquired Escurís in 2002.

The group began to take its first steps in 1951, when the founder bought a knitting machine to make baby clothes. Seven years later, it made the leap to canning fish and seafood, with a modest plant in Vilanova. From nothing it went on to be the leader in the ranking of tuna production in Europe. It closed 2014 with billing of 600 million Euros, a year in which it broke its record of contracting personnel in Galicia: 2,664 persons. During the six decades of activity, the business group has not stopped its efforts to diversify its activity and expand with the aim of guaranteeing the development of its principal activity, canning. The corporation is made up of around twenty companies.